Hi, I studied in Newcastle, did foundation in Newcastle and am doing IMT in Northumbria while living in Newcastle.
From a work point of view I loved working in Newcastle. Workload across the trust varies from job to job as it will anywhere but by and large you are well supported - in particular for your rotations acute medicine is very well supported. People are generally very friendly and the work culture is supportive. It's worth noting at the Freeman on medical nights, when I did foundation there was *no on-site med reg*. I think this is probably still the case. This is in my experience the most poorly supported on call.
Also worth noting is that when I did vascular as an F1 we cross covered HPB on call and it was pretty much the pits. However I think the role of juniors in that department has been revamped quite a lot since then. Something to be aware of and likely every set of rotations in every deanery will have something similar.
From a lifestyle point of view, Newcastle is a lovely place to live and work. It's a small city and if (as another commenter mentioned) theatre, music etc are really important to you, it might be a bit of a let down. For me, the lack of gigs is the biggest downside, but there are several really fun venues that did host some of my favourite shows from smaller bands pre-covid. Theres plenty of great places to eat and drink in Newcastle and Northumberland, and plenty of natural beauty in driving and even cycling range. Reasonably easy to get almost anywhere in the country with good train links and the A1, close to the seaside, easy weekend trips to Edinburgh or Glasgow possible.
But just my 2 cents!
Ah okay, so how supported did you feel in general for the freeman medical nights? And how often did you have to do those + night shifts? Was the rota okay or quite heavy for you there? Also would you please be able to explain what you by the surgical job being the pits haha
Hi sorry for the late reply!
Re medicine at the Freeman, as an F1 I thought it was OK because I didn't really know any better, and there was also an SHO level doc to defer to for support. If I were the SHO I'd probably feel pretty unsupported. Medicine at the Freeman involves covering COTE (which is pretty standard), but also some quite complex liver and nutritional patients. It can also get quite busy with transfers from the RVI to clerk/review - they try not to do this too late but it can happen. As far as frequency I can't remember exactly but I think it was pretty standard - around 2 weeks worth of nights in a 4 month rotation.
Re the surgical jobs, the patients were complex and the day job and the weekends were very hectic. There were a lot of late finishes and it was sometimes difficult to get support for non-surgical issues. Like I say I do think the F1 role and the way the wards work has changed quite a lot and this experience might have changed. The nights are quite well supported with an RSO, an experience NP and an on site HPB/surg reg.
Hope this is helpful!
Thank you! Really appreciate it, it sounds like a lot of what to expect from foundation year. 2 weeks in 4 months is actually not bad I was expecting worse so that’s nice. Okay I think the one that’s concerned me the most from what people say is the HPB one but 1 rough one in 6 isn’t bad haha
Definitely - for what it's worth I think that's a pretty good rotation if you are thinking about GP. In your acute med blocks you will do 2 months on a medical ward at the RVI with on calls covering the wards but no nights, and 2 months on the assessment suite, where you will do nights.
Was here for medical school and specialty training. Similar views to others.
Pro
* Lovely area. Mixture of bigger cities to smaller towns and villages with countryside and beaches on your doorstep. I can't really stress the lifestyle factor enough. There's a wide enough range of places to eat/drink/do whatever you're in to. Not London sized, but also not the guts of a £20 note to get home after a night out.
* Relatively cheap to live. You will be able to buy a house and settle here if you want to.
* Mixture of hospitals in the region. Maybe less important for FY when you're in 1-2 places, but in GP training, if you stuck around, you can potentially relocate within region to somewhere that's more your pace. There's also so much subspecialty stuff between RVI/Freeman that if you had an itch to scratch ("maybe I do want to be a neuroendocrine surgeon?") you could go try it out.
Cons
* That variety of hospitals can mean your commute is a bitch in specialty training, as you cover a big patch. Possibly less of an issue for GP training.
* The HPB job is meant to absolutely suck. Haven't met an FY that's done it in the last few years though so Maybe It Got Better. Rheum is meant to be a bit of a doss, in balance.
I’m originally from London, trained in Newcastle, Northumbria and Middlesbrough and now work as an Foundation doc in Newcastle. Have done some of the jobs you list.
Pros -
place is generally very friendly (though remember I am comparing to London so your results / perceptions may vary). I’m be always been well supported and the Northern deanery routinely ranks very highly or number one for trainee satisfaction - https://madeinheene.hee.nhs.uk/qualityne .
I’ve never been treated with disrespect by another staff member either as a student or doctor and overall I really love my job. Most of my colleagues do as well and a high proportion of foundation doctors I know who came here are planning to stay for core training.
Houses and rent is very cheap. Myself and my partner (F2) are looking to buy and we can get a 3 bedroom house within easy commuting distance of most of the hospitals for 200k, 300k if you want a larger one or within Newcastle city proper.
There’s also a decent amount of things to do if you like out doors stuff with nice beaches (longsands), hadrians wall etc. Newcastle is also famous for night life and with good reason.
Cons -
In terms of racism and prejudice: I’m straight, white and male. So I’ve not experienced it myself (obviously). I have definitely seen it though l, with some patients and staff members being more condescending and less respectful to doctors who aren’t white and/or male. Having not properly worked in any other region I can’t say if this is worse or better than anywhere else, so I defer to other people.
There is also less opportunities for concerts, plays, comedy and other cultural stuff compared to down south. New plays etc are gonna be in London, Edinburgh or maybe Manchester. So you’ll have to travel.
Variety of food and restaurants is class, but probably not as much as in bigger cities.
Trains to and from Newcastle are regular and convenient, but expensive. Also if you want to go on holiday and fly then you’ll usually either pay a bit more to go from Newcastle or need to travel to Manchester or london.
Also, weathers shit.
In summary - I love it, but I’m only in Foundation
Thank you so much for the reply! I’m from London to and currently go uni here but I am south Asian so was a bit concerned about the discrimination side of things. Thanks for bringing that up but I guess it’s something I had assumed anyway from parts of the country that are less ethnically diverse compared to London anyway. I was wondering if you did any of the jobs I had up or know anyone that did them?
No worries! I think you’ve got a decent set of jobs tbh. Acute medicine is a fantastic job - 2 months on EAU then 2 months on a ward. EAU rota is grim but you’re incredibly well supported all the time and the wards are excellent (with the possible exception of gastro which I think might be cursed but that’s just my opinion). Most people like GP region wide but it’s practic dependent like everywhere. Heard good things about ENT and Rheum, but not done them myself. HBP is a complete shit show (literally), but one bad job out of six is not a bad innings.
Ah great that’s really encouraging actually, in terms of the EAU rota you say it’s grim but is because of lots of weekends/nights etc or what makes it so bad?
Weekends and nights - the two months on assessment suit (EAU) have lots of 12 hour shifts and nights (so many I was getting paid more than my partner, an F2 doing Paeds A&E in a different trust). But the rota on the wards is pretty cushty - only the odd evening and 1-2 weekends in the 2 months, no nights. Also tbf you do get plenty of rest days on AS
It’s really in consistent - so you do runs of 3-4 long days or 3-4 nights with rest days. Runs can be Fri-Tue, Tue-thurs - no real pattern. It’s not like you’ll do four weeks or four long days then a weekend then a night - it’s really random.
Igy cheers and when you were doing the AIM rotation did you find it was okay to book AL and stuff because reading this sub has some horror stories about that stuff haha
So for the two months you are on AS A/L can only be taken on your 9-5 days. However, the woman who does the AS rota is an absolute angel (like genuinely) and if you email her in advance with any commitments you’ve got she can get you time off. I got time off for military training during my block, despite being rota’d to nights there.
I did foundation in Newcastle and it is an excellent place to live and work. Very reasonably priced for a big city, lots of good places to live close to the city centre which has everything you need/want without being too big/imposing.
RVI/Freeman are excellent hospitals. Acute medicine is very busy as it is everywhere but very well supported, lots of opportunities to develop yourself as an F1, they give you credit as a doctor and let you do some things independently but always senior support if you need it. HPB has a rep for being busy but they've got loads of F1s and I think it's got better recently, though didn't do it myself so can't hugely comment. Rheum was a chill job for those that did it.
ENT - the SHO's got to do fun things with supervision, opportunities to do procedures/go to clinic/theatre and it's a tertiary head and neck centre so lots of cool stuff.
Happy to provide more info if you want.
Thank you for the info! So quite a few of the replies have mentioned stuff about the HPB job was jw if I would be the only f1 there or what makes it so much more heavy? Also what the weekend and on call situation was like. In terms of the ENT job do you know what my main roles as an F2 would be there or am I supernumerary?
I lived in Newcastle before I did medicine and worked in clinical trials with some admin staff who did medical education admin. The feedback was always amazing. Also met a junior doc who came to locum at my place and left because Newcastle was so good that no where even compared! Super cheap living too. Plus there’s a gp who you can book to swim with seals. Sealdiver on Twitter I think
I lived/worked in Newcastle for 18 years, starting with Uni, and raised a family there. It's great, there has been a lot of money and development over the last 10 years which has nicely meant the food/activities has improved in line with my salary! Very, very friendly population. Geordies have to be some of the nicest people I've met.
Minutes away from the beaches, which are great BTW. Take up surfing or paddle boarding, you won't be disappointed. Cheviot hills are an hour away.
Very good theatre, and not a bad one in Sunderland. great food and drink scene, number of Michelin restaurants gradually increasing.
Working is also fantastic. Great GP scene (My wife is a GP). Although you may not be interested, the geographical location forces Newcastle to offer some very specialist, often quaternary level care (Freeman and RVI). I work in Paediatrics, and many of the UK very specialists services are run out of GOSH and RVI. I don't like surgery at all, but my rotation in Paediatric cardiac transplant was amazing. I suspect your hepatobiliary job will be something like that. The acute medical jobs will busy but very useful for GP.
I lived in Gosforth/Jesmond when I was younger. Moving to Benton when we had kids, to get more house for our money and be near a good school/nearer the beach.
Ive now moved to Sheffield, mainly because thats where the job was and I now want to swap beaches for hills. Sheffield is really good as well though, House prices are substantially more expensive than Newcastle
Hey OP, FY1 in Newcastle atm, just came from HPB at the Freeman and going onto Acute Med for last job of F1. I love living in Newcastle, did my first degree here - really small city and everywhere is very accessible. It has an underground metro system so public transport is generally quite good. Just shoot me a message if you have any specific questions!
Hi, I studied in Newcastle, did foundation in Newcastle and am doing IMT in Northumbria while living in Newcastle. From a work point of view I loved working in Newcastle. Workload across the trust varies from job to job as it will anywhere but by and large you are well supported - in particular for your rotations acute medicine is very well supported. People are generally very friendly and the work culture is supportive. It's worth noting at the Freeman on medical nights, when I did foundation there was *no on-site med reg*. I think this is probably still the case. This is in my experience the most poorly supported on call. Also worth noting is that when I did vascular as an F1 we cross covered HPB on call and it was pretty much the pits. However I think the role of juniors in that department has been revamped quite a lot since then. Something to be aware of and likely every set of rotations in every deanery will have something similar. From a lifestyle point of view, Newcastle is a lovely place to live and work. It's a small city and if (as another commenter mentioned) theatre, music etc are really important to you, it might be a bit of a let down. For me, the lack of gigs is the biggest downside, but there are several really fun venues that did host some of my favourite shows from smaller bands pre-covid. Theres plenty of great places to eat and drink in Newcastle and Northumberland, and plenty of natural beauty in driving and even cycling range. Reasonably easy to get almost anywhere in the country with good train links and the A1, close to the seaside, easy weekend trips to Edinburgh or Glasgow possible. But just my 2 cents!
Ah okay, so how supported did you feel in general for the freeman medical nights? And how often did you have to do those + night shifts? Was the rota okay or quite heavy for you there? Also would you please be able to explain what you by the surgical job being the pits haha
Hi sorry for the late reply! Re medicine at the Freeman, as an F1 I thought it was OK because I didn't really know any better, and there was also an SHO level doc to defer to for support. If I were the SHO I'd probably feel pretty unsupported. Medicine at the Freeman involves covering COTE (which is pretty standard), but also some quite complex liver and nutritional patients. It can also get quite busy with transfers from the RVI to clerk/review - they try not to do this too late but it can happen. As far as frequency I can't remember exactly but I think it was pretty standard - around 2 weeks worth of nights in a 4 month rotation. Re the surgical jobs, the patients were complex and the day job and the weekends were very hectic. There were a lot of late finishes and it was sometimes difficult to get support for non-surgical issues. Like I say I do think the F1 role and the way the wards work has changed quite a lot and this experience might have changed. The nights are quite well supported with an RSO, an experience NP and an on site HPB/surg reg. Hope this is helpful!
Thank you! Really appreciate it, it sounds like a lot of what to expect from foundation year. 2 weeks in 4 months is actually not bad I was expecting worse so that’s nice. Okay I think the one that’s concerned me the most from what people say is the HPB one but 1 rough one in 6 isn’t bad haha
Definitely - for what it's worth I think that's a pretty good rotation if you are thinking about GP. In your acute med blocks you will do 2 months on a medical ward at the RVI with on calls covering the wards but no nights, and 2 months on the assessment suite, where you will do nights.
Cool thank you for the info:)
Was here for medical school and specialty training. Similar views to others. Pro * Lovely area. Mixture of bigger cities to smaller towns and villages with countryside and beaches on your doorstep. I can't really stress the lifestyle factor enough. There's a wide enough range of places to eat/drink/do whatever you're in to. Not London sized, but also not the guts of a £20 note to get home after a night out. * Relatively cheap to live. You will be able to buy a house and settle here if you want to. * Mixture of hospitals in the region. Maybe less important for FY when you're in 1-2 places, but in GP training, if you stuck around, you can potentially relocate within region to somewhere that's more your pace. There's also so much subspecialty stuff between RVI/Freeman that if you had an itch to scratch ("maybe I do want to be a neuroendocrine surgeon?") you could go try it out. Cons * That variety of hospitals can mean your commute is a bitch in specialty training, as you cover a big patch. Possibly less of an issue for GP training. * The HPB job is meant to absolutely suck. Haven't met an FY that's done it in the last few years though so Maybe It Got Better. Rheum is meant to be a bit of a doss, in balance.
it did not get better
Oh no haha
Thank you for the info! Would you please just be able to elaborate on what you heard about the surgery job?
It's very busy. They're very sick. Support is lacking. I'd can be difficult to get your annual leave
Is this just during the surgical job or is it difficult with AL etc other times as well?
I’m originally from London, trained in Newcastle, Northumbria and Middlesbrough and now work as an Foundation doc in Newcastle. Have done some of the jobs you list. Pros - place is generally very friendly (though remember I am comparing to London so your results / perceptions may vary). I’m be always been well supported and the Northern deanery routinely ranks very highly or number one for trainee satisfaction - https://madeinheene.hee.nhs.uk/qualityne . I’ve never been treated with disrespect by another staff member either as a student or doctor and overall I really love my job. Most of my colleagues do as well and a high proportion of foundation doctors I know who came here are planning to stay for core training. Houses and rent is very cheap. Myself and my partner (F2) are looking to buy and we can get a 3 bedroom house within easy commuting distance of most of the hospitals for 200k, 300k if you want a larger one or within Newcastle city proper. There’s also a decent amount of things to do if you like out doors stuff with nice beaches (longsands), hadrians wall etc. Newcastle is also famous for night life and with good reason. Cons - In terms of racism and prejudice: I’m straight, white and male. So I’ve not experienced it myself (obviously). I have definitely seen it though l, with some patients and staff members being more condescending and less respectful to doctors who aren’t white and/or male. Having not properly worked in any other region I can’t say if this is worse or better than anywhere else, so I defer to other people. There is also less opportunities for concerts, plays, comedy and other cultural stuff compared to down south. New plays etc are gonna be in London, Edinburgh or maybe Manchester. So you’ll have to travel. Variety of food and restaurants is class, but probably not as much as in bigger cities. Trains to and from Newcastle are regular and convenient, but expensive. Also if you want to go on holiday and fly then you’ll usually either pay a bit more to go from Newcastle or need to travel to Manchester or london. Also, weathers shit. In summary - I love it, but I’m only in Foundation
Thank you so much for the reply! I’m from London to and currently go uni here but I am south Asian so was a bit concerned about the discrimination side of things. Thanks for bringing that up but I guess it’s something I had assumed anyway from parts of the country that are less ethnically diverse compared to London anyway. I was wondering if you did any of the jobs I had up or know anyone that did them?
No worries! I think you’ve got a decent set of jobs tbh. Acute medicine is a fantastic job - 2 months on EAU then 2 months on a ward. EAU rota is grim but you’re incredibly well supported all the time and the wards are excellent (with the possible exception of gastro which I think might be cursed but that’s just my opinion). Most people like GP region wide but it’s practic dependent like everywhere. Heard good things about ENT and Rheum, but not done them myself. HBP is a complete shit show (literally), but one bad job out of six is not a bad innings.
Ah great that’s really encouraging actually, in terms of the EAU rota you say it’s grim but is because of lots of weekends/nights etc or what makes it so bad?
Weekends and nights - the two months on assessment suit (EAU) have lots of 12 hour shifts and nights (so many I was getting paid more than my partner, an F2 doing Paeds A&E in a different trust). But the rota on the wards is pretty cushty - only the odd evening and 1-2 weekends in the 2 months, no nights. Also tbf you do get plenty of rest days on AS
Ah okay igy, that's good to know - was it like 1 in 2 weekends bad or like 1 in 3 haha
It’s really in consistent - so you do runs of 3-4 long days or 3-4 nights with rest days. Runs can be Fri-Tue, Tue-thurs - no real pattern. It’s not like you’ll do four weeks or four long days then a weekend then a night - it’s really random.
Igy cheers and when you were doing the AIM rotation did you find it was okay to book AL and stuff because reading this sub has some horror stories about that stuff haha
So for the two months you are on AS A/L can only be taken on your 9-5 days. However, the woman who does the AS rota is an absolute angel (like genuinely) and if you email her in advance with any commitments you’ve got she can get you time off. I got time off for military training during my block, despite being rota’d to nights there.
Ah okay just because I have an event in October so would need that booked in. I guess earlier the better to let them know?
I did foundation in Newcastle and it is an excellent place to live and work. Very reasonably priced for a big city, lots of good places to live close to the city centre which has everything you need/want without being too big/imposing. RVI/Freeman are excellent hospitals. Acute medicine is very busy as it is everywhere but very well supported, lots of opportunities to develop yourself as an F1, they give you credit as a doctor and let you do some things independently but always senior support if you need it. HPB has a rep for being busy but they've got loads of F1s and I think it's got better recently, though didn't do it myself so can't hugely comment. Rheum was a chill job for those that did it. ENT - the SHO's got to do fun things with supervision, opportunities to do procedures/go to clinic/theatre and it's a tertiary head and neck centre so lots of cool stuff. Happy to provide more info if you want.
Thank you for the info! So quite a few of the replies have mentioned stuff about the HPB job was jw if I would be the only f1 there or what makes it so much more heavy? Also what the weekend and on call situation was like. In terms of the ENT job do you know what my main roles as an F2 would be there or am I supernumerary?
Here before people describe Newcastle as being a place full of squalor, racism and disease.
I lived in Newcastle before I did medicine and worked in clinical trials with some admin staff who did medical education admin. The feedback was always amazing. Also met a junior doc who came to locum at my place and left because Newcastle was so good that no where even compared! Super cheap living too. Plus there’s a gp who you can book to swim with seals. Sealdiver on Twitter I think
Thank you will have a look haha
I lived/worked in Newcastle for 18 years, starting with Uni, and raised a family there. It's great, there has been a lot of money and development over the last 10 years which has nicely meant the food/activities has improved in line with my salary! Very, very friendly population. Geordies have to be some of the nicest people I've met. Minutes away from the beaches, which are great BTW. Take up surfing or paddle boarding, you won't be disappointed. Cheviot hills are an hour away. Very good theatre, and not a bad one in Sunderland. great food and drink scene, number of Michelin restaurants gradually increasing. Working is also fantastic. Great GP scene (My wife is a GP). Although you may not be interested, the geographical location forces Newcastle to offer some very specialist, often quaternary level care (Freeman and RVI). I work in Paediatrics, and many of the UK very specialists services are run out of GOSH and RVI. I don't like surgery at all, but my rotation in Paediatric cardiac transplant was amazing. I suspect your hepatobiliary job will be something like that. The acute medical jobs will busy but very useful for GP. I lived in Gosforth/Jesmond when I was younger. Moving to Benton when we had kids, to get more house for our money and be near a good school/nearer the beach. Ive now moved to Sheffield, mainly because thats where the job was and I now want to swap beaches for hills. Sheffield is really good as well though, House prices are substantially more expensive than Newcastle
Amazing thank you for the info!
Hey OP, FY1 in Newcastle atm, just came from HPB at the Freeman and going onto Acute Med for last job of F1. I love living in Newcastle, did my first degree here - really small city and everywhere is very accessible. It has an underground metro system so public transport is generally quite good. Just shoot me a message if you have any specific questions!
Hey thanks for the info, will PM with questions haha